The Great British Bake Off had to put off filming earlier this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but luckily the new series is now finished cooking in the oven and nearly ready for us to devour.
The cast and crew of the series had to all self-isolate and form a bubble together for six weeks to allow for shooting to go ahead.
Speaking to Broadcast, the show’s producers revealed the “mammoth sacrifice” made by the cast and crew to ensure the series could take place.
Kieran Smith, creative director at Love Productions, said: “So many people rely on Bake Off for work that we knew we had to work out a plan.”
He went on to say that he teamed with managing director Letty Kavanagh to hire a South-East location in July, which housed all cast and crew alongside 20 hotel staff members, 80 Love producers and around 20 “children, chaperones and dog walkers”.
The team had to self-isolate for nine days and take three COVID tests before entering the hotel.
Albert L. Ortega / Getty Images
Once they got the all-clear, the cast and crew then had a “gruelling” six-week shoot consisting of “two days on, two days off”.
During the time, Smith says the show only had one coronavirus scare which turned out to be negative.
“It was a massive operation, we even [built] 12 practice kitchens for the bakers to use on their days off,” Smith said, with Kavanagh adding, “It felt like the safest place in Britain.”
Kavanagh also spoke about how new host Matt Lucas gelled with the team. “He was practically living with the bakers,” he said. “It felt like he had always been there.”
The Great British Bake Off airs on Channel 4.
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